Blog

Hello everyone! I'm currently enrolled in a Psychology class, and a recent assignment was to write up a paper about the top 3 things that motivate you. Here's what I came up with! Let me know in the comments what your top 3 motivators are! - Katrina

After I thought for a while and researched some more information about motivation on the Internet, I decided that Happiness, Rewards, and Freedom/Independence were my top 3 motivators. The list could have definitely been more extensive than just listing the top three.

1. Happiness

Happiness is my top motivator. Knowing that good feelings will come after completion of the task definitely motivates me to get the task done. Some examples of happiness that come from task completion would be: finishing an assignment or piece of art and getting satisfying feedback on it; studying long and hard for a test and then finding out that I passed the test; or volunteering to help at organizations such as the Boys & Girls Club or the local animal shelter. You’re giving happiness to other people and animals and at the same time becoming a happier person yourself due to the pleasant feeling of helping others.

2. Rewards

This sort of goes hand in hand with the first category. If I know that I’ll get a reward, I’ll be much more motivated to finish a task quickly. An example of this would be finishing my homework and getting to go somewhere with my friends. This is the same tactic that is used to get people to work harder; pay them more money for carrying out the task. A reward also could be in the form of a sense of accomplishment, which would also lead to happiness. Entrepreneurs who work for themselves are often motivated by the happiness of accomplishing their tasks. I am also into filmmaking. It is incredibly motivational and rewarding to see my films screened. One film I produced was just shown at a college where 300+ people saw it, and now it’s going to be shown at the Sun and Sand Film Festival on the Gulf Coast where many more people will see it. A documentary film that I just produced was recently shown in front of an audience of 800 people in India. It gives me much pleasure knowing that my work is visible to others. It motivates me to create more films.

3. Freedom and Independence

We are all very blessed to live in the free country of America. While it’s true that America is a free country, it doesn’t necessarily mean that everyone who lives in America feels like a free person. Take for example prisoners or people who are forced to work at a job everyday from 9 to 5. More times than not, those people would likely be willing to work hard to make their sentence come to an end or to make their retirement come at an earlier date. Working towards freedom isn’t something that American’s are just getting used to. American’s were so motivated towards freedom from Britain that they were willing to fight for it. In my own life, an example of working towards freedom would be saving up money to buy a car, which would offer me freedom to go places. I also work to preserve freedom by aiding in campaigns for government officials who have good moral, Christian values, which is where I’m going next week – to the Generation Joshua Student Action Team for Daniel Webster for U.S. House of Representatives.

The illustration at the top of this article was done for a client, Jenny Flintoft, for part of a series of illustrations for her success coaching business in England. She uses my illustrations in a guide she sends out to people via email when they sign up for her website. She gave me great feedback and even gave me a bonus payment. That’s motivation in action!